Shugyosha

Hi Chris, There's no picture attached. John

Hi Oliver, Here's my best shot, the brackets indicate the bits I couldn't get: 黒石地[ ]鞘半太刀拵 Kuro (black) Ishiji [ ] saya handachi koshirae 縁頭山銅地 Fuchi kashira yamagane ji (yamagane ground). 目貫 雪片図[ ] Menuki snowflake theme [ ] 鐔 武兵図鉄地 Tsuba warrior theme tetsu ji (iron ground). Best, John

What he said. Fortune favours the brave!!

Thanks Alex. It's complicated this collecting lark isn't it?

Thanks for the comments and for posting that Dwain, yours is a really nice example. Best, John

Thank you gentlemen, shibuichi it is then. Kind regards, John

I currently have a kozuka for sale here, which I believe is ko kinko and done in shakudo. A board member kindly pointed out that, due to the brown colour, he thought that it was probably shibuichi. My understanding is that shakudo comes within a range of colours dependent on the recipe and I thought that dark brown, a little off black was a possible for shakudo. Does anyone have any comments? Here's a link to the listing, please let me have your thoughts. Best, John http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/26873-ko-kinko-kozuka/

It has been mentioned that the "shakudo" may in fact be shibuichi: in normal lighting it has a brown rather than black hue. Please accept my apologies for any misdescription. Edit: Sorry can't edit the original post - it's shubuichi and not shakudo.

Bump!!

Bump!!!

It's the province where the pictures of signatures aren't rotated.

I really need some better eyes and a sh!t ton more knowledge. Thanks Uwe!!

Nice fittings Dwain!!

John beat me to the punch.

Hi John, Signature is (Seki Stamp) Ishihara Naotane: NAOTANE (直胤), Shōwa (昭和, 1926-1989), Gifu – “Naotane” (直胤), real name Ishihara Kan´ichi (石原鍳市), his first name is also listed with the characters (鑒市), born June 20th 1907, he worked as guntō smith and died December 1st 1964 Don't know about the tsuba - sometimes an older tsuba would be used rather than the standard issue - I've got a ko kinko tsuba which was converted to take the catch on a gunto scabbard but there are people who know lots more than me on this subject. Best, another John

Goto Chōjo plus kao. No idea whether it's a good signature or not. Chōjo worked late Muromachi to early Edo period.

Hi Krystian, By way of a complete fluke, I stumbled across this on Aoi Art: https://www.aoijapan.net/kozuka-hosono-sozaemon-horu-kore/ Best, John

Hi Ken, I think that it is genuine: I can't see any signs of it being cast rather than forged and I don't think someone making a copy would bother to cut a mei into iron or steel. It's not in great condition though, if it's not too expensive I'd give it a go but I wouldn't pay much more than £75 for it and I'd be happier with something nearer to £50. Best, John

Well done BaZZa, very well deserved!!!

Happy to go with the flow.

Thanks for the kind words guys. If anyone is wrestling with themselves, just to spell this out: I will offer a 100% refund if this does not pass shinsa with the NTHK or NBTHK if submitted within 12 months of purchase. Best, John

Hi John, Welcome to the forum and welcome to the hobby. Unfortunately, the kanji on the kogatana are a little worn and not done in the nice "blocky" fashion that is helpful to western readers, so I'm struggling with the fourth and sixth kanji,however, I think there's enough that I can make out to take a stab at it. The first three kanji (志津三...) read "Shizu sa" and that is a combination that often comes up in a line of smiths signing "Shizu saboro Kane Uji". In this case there is also a "Minamoto" (源) thrown in so it might be this guy: KANEUJI (兼氏), Kanbun (寛文, 1661-1673), Mino – “Shizu Saburō Minamoto Kaneuji” (志津三郎源兼氏), real name Tōyama Jinjūrō (遠山甚十郎), he lived in Ōgaki (大垣) in Mino province, by the shintō-era, the lineage of Kaneuji had split into the Ōgaki, Gifu (岐阜), and Seki branches that were locally active until the Meiji era, the Ōgaki line smiths bore the family name Tōyama and the Seki line smiths the family name Fukuchi (福地) I say might, because for some reason manufacturers of kogatana often add a somewhat "aspirational" signature to them, usually of a famous smith, so this may not actually be the maker. I hope that helps. If you get the time please also post some pictures of your new sword as we like looking at pictures of swords! Kind regards, another John

Indeed. Thanks for setting this up Ray, it has been fun playing.

Now sold. Please archive. Thank you!.

Sold subject to inspection period...